Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel of this Sunday, October 25, 2026,  entitled: “You shall love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself . ” 

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“Exodus 22:20-26: “The exploitation of widows and orphans stirs up God’s anger.”

 Psalm 17: “You, Lord, are my refuge”

1 Thessalonians 1:5-10: “You turned to God from idols and are in hope of his Son, Jesus Christ, who is coming from heaven.”

Matthew 22:34-40: “You shall love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself.”

What is the most important thing in religion? Perhaps we have all asked ourselves this question, sincerely seeking guidance for our lives. For the ordinary Israelite, lost in the intricate labyrinth of laws and precepts, discovering what is most important would not be easy. The scribes spoke of six hundred and thirteen commandments contained in the law. But when religion is reduced to commandments and laws, the most important thing—the relationship with God—can be forgotten, and people can be seriously harmed. The question itself is not strange; what is strange is that a doctor of the law asks it. It would seem that those who least want to understand are the ones who ask the most questions, and in this context of controversy, they use the commandments as a pretext to confront Jesus. According to the text, they don’t seem to have any interest in keeping them. But this gives Jesus the opportunity to explicitly state what he reveals daily through his actions regarding the most important commandment. What Jesus does every day, what he has been doing since his incarnation and coming into the world, is the will of his Father, the love of his Father… but made manifest in a very clear and concrete way in love of neighbor. Love of God is inseparable from love of neighbor. This is our Christian faith. No one can abuse, oppress, or be indifferent to the weak and poor because God is on the side of our brothers and sisters.

Perhaps today we could begin our reflection with the measure Jesus gives to this love: “as yourself .” This is not a mere addition, but the very source from which the commandment springs, although it can be understood in many ways. The first meaning is suggested by words Jesus himself spoke on another occasion: “Treat others as you would like them to treat you ,” or also, “Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you .” It is a very practical formula. Think about the different situations we have found ourselves in and how we react to the positive or negative treatment we receive from others, and then act according to what we would want for ourselves. In fact, in the first reading, taken from Exodus, a series of very specific prescriptions are offered for treating our neighbor, all based on “because you too were in that situation.” Thus it says: “Do not oppress or afflict the foreigner… Do not exploit widows or orphans… When you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a usurer, charging interest. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it before sunset. When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am merciful.” Certainly, by changing the conditions, by putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes, by seeing them “as ourselves,” all our ways of seeing, thinking, and acting change.

In a society of inequalities, loving “as you love yourself” introduces the radical demand of brotherhood. This is the second aspect of “as yourself,” which compels us to place ourselves in a position where love for others makes us brothers and sisters, makes us equal. I love others because each one is a child of God, of my same dignity and with my same rights. I love them because we are equal and committed to building that equality, that fraternity, without contempt, without discrimination, without first- or second-class citizens. Love for ourselves is taken as the measure of our love and our service to others.

To love, one must know oneself to be loved. This third aspect can be understood as a premise. To love “as yourself” implies first loving oneself, accepting oneself, knowing and loving oneself, simply because God loves us. God loves you infinitely, and that love, which fills and satisfies you, can be poured out upon others. There are those who do not love themselves, who are always in a bad mood, always angry, and annoyed by everything… they do not love themselves because they have not recognized that they are loved by God. Thus, what initially seemed to be one commandment—to love God—and then two—to love one’s neighbor—actually becomes three commandments, because the commandment to love oneself is also necessary. But perhaps we would be returning to the level of the Pharisees who only look at commandments. Is love a commandment? Rather, it is an experience, the great experience that we must all live! If we recognize and feel loved by God, the other “commandments” spring forth spontaneously. If we say we love God but deceive and destroy our neighbor, then, says St. John, we are liars. To love our neighbor, we need to find the great source of love’s power.

Loving oneself doesn’t have the selfish and individualistic meaning that the modern world tries to give it. It’s not about shutting oneself off and making oneself the center of the universe, because then everything collapses: love for God, love for neighbor, and even self-love, which transforms into arrogance, pride, and contempt for others. Jesus adds a little more because true love is learned from Jesus. Before becoming sacrificial love, He Himself had built with His life a cross of two beams: one vertical, reaching from the earth to the Father; the other horizontal, representing love for our brothers and sisters, but inseparably united. That is why He dares to tell us: “Love one another as I have loved you.” That is the measure, that is the task, that is the dream. How are we fulfilling Jesus’ commandment? How are we living the experience of love?

Good Father, who has loved us from all eternity, grant us to experience your love in such a way that we may joyfully fulfill your commandment of love, following the example of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.